Chapter 409: Grafting

On the lake surface, the moment Lu Cang closed his eyes, Li Luo immediately sensed a strange fluctuation emanating from within Lu Cang's body, one that made him smell danger.

So without the slightest hesitation, he slashed out with a blade, the blade-light tearing across the lake surface and chopping straight down toward Lu Cang's face.

No one had said he had to stand here like a fool waiting for the other party to play out every last trump card, so stepping in now to interrupt was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

However, when that blade-light was still half a zhang from Lu Cang, it was blocked by a curtain of phase force that materialized out of thin air.

Clearly, Lu Cang was no fool and had long since prepared some defenses.

Li Luo did not stop, sending out blade-light after blade-light in an unbroken stream, the sharp whistle of splitting air rising as they hammered against the phase-force curtain one after another, and under his rapid assault the curtain quickly began to teeter on the brink of collapse; after a dozen or so breaths, it shattered with a sudden crack.

A fierce blade-light sliced straight toward Lu Cang's face.

Boom!

And at that very instant, Lu Cang, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly threw a punch that collided head-on with the blade-light; under that one punch, the blade-light shattered apart.

Lu Cang's fist was completely unscathed.

Li Luo's gaze hardened slightly, for he saw Lu Cang's hair at this moment gradually growing longer, spilling down his back, and half of it had turned white, black and white alternating in a rather eerie fashion.

Of course, what was changing was not only the hair, but the phase-force fluctuation within Lu Cang's body, which was climbing at a startling speed.

That level had already far surpassed the earlier Transformation Phase, First Change.

The phase force was so powerful that it even stirred the surrounding lake water, constantly forming surging waves around Lu Cang.

Li Luo's brows knit tightly at this; for the other party to suddenly surge with so much phase force was truly inconceivable. After all, even his own practiced phase-bubble art only stored a few extra portions of phase force—how could it possibly multiply several times over like Lu Cang's?

Judging by the intensity of his phase force, the current Lu Cang should have risen an entire tier, reaching Transformation Phase, Second Change, and likely the peak of Second Change at that.

Moreover, his Transformation Phase, Second Change was not the kind ordinary Second Change practitioners could compare to; with his ability, he could turn that phase force into an even higher level of combat power. After all, those who could defeat opponents above their own tier were not Li Luo alone.

By Li Luo's estimate, Lu Cang in this state likely already possessed true combat power surpassing Ye Ye Qiuding's and pressing close to Senior Zhu Zhu Xuan's.

Such a surge could truly be called astonishing.

While Li Luo was still wondering, Lu Cang's tightly shut eyes slowly opened at this moment; his pupils had also changed, becoming one crimson and one black vertical slit, the vertical pupils icy cold and brimming with a vicious ferocity.

On the tiered viewing platforms, every gaze directed here shifted slightly; clearly, all of them had sensed that Lu Cang in this state was extremely dangerous.

"How can his phase force have risen so much?" Lv Qing'er gently bit her red lips, her hands resting on the railing unconsciously clenching tight.

"Something's off." Qin Qin Zhulu said in a low voice. He too possessed an upper eighth-grade Ten Thousand Beasts Phase, yet he could not achieve what Lu Cang had done—mysteriously doubling his own strength in an instant.

"It's not only the rise in phase force; the phase-force fluctuation within that Lu Cang has also gained an entirely new quality out of thin air. His Heavenly Sun Python Phase was previously scorching and overbearing, but now there's an added sinister, ghostly air to it..." Jiang Jiang Qinge spoke calmly from the side.

Then her gaze turned toward the viewing platform of the Blue Abyss Saint Academy, where one could see from afar the youth named Lu Zang.

"That extra phase force and quality actually seem to belong to that Lu Zang, who possesses the 'Mystic Yin Python Phase.'"

Hearing Jiang Jiang Qinge's words, Lv Qing'er, Qin Qin Zhulu and the others all felt it was rather inconceivable: "Senior Jiang, are you saying that Lu Zang can actually transfer his own phase force and phase nature across the distance onto Lu Cang?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded: "Lu Zang has now entered a state of feigned sleep, with all the phase force around his body gone. If my guess is right, this is the Blue Abyss Saint Academy's trump card. These two brothers were born of the same womb, so having such an unfathomable, wondrous connection is hardly surprising."

"In a sense, the current Lu Cang can also be said to carry two phases, and the grade of his phase nature is even a bit higher than Li Luo's."

Bai Bai Mengmeng's delicate brows knit tightly: "Doesn't that mean the captain is in danger?"

Dual-phase power was the means Li Luo relied on for his fame; if the other party had the same, then for Li Luo it was clearly not good news.

"It's not the same."

Jiang Jiang Qinge shook her head and said: "Li Luo carries a Dual Phase Palace; only with the protection of a phase palace can the phase natures truly unleash their power. Lu Cang, although he can graft over Lu Zang's phase nature and phase force through this special method, ultimately he has no independent phase palace, so he cannot form true dual-phase power—at best it's just two streams of force."

"And without a phase palace to sustain it, that grafted power and phase nature are like duckweed without roots; it cannot last too long before gradually weakening until it dissipates."

"Of course, we cannot deny that Lu Cang's combat power right now is extremely formidable; an ordinary Transformation Phase, Third Change practitioner probably wouldn't be his match. No wonder the Blue Abyss Saint Academy treats him as the trump card to turn the tide. This ability of his, to say nothing of the Ticket Competition, even if you looked across all the one-star academies of the various Saint Academies of the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, it would rank among the best—he can truly be called a prodigy."

"If Li Luo wants to win this round, it will depend on how much he's been holding back in his daily practice."

Listening to Jiang Jiang Qinge's analysis, Lv Qing'er, Qin Qin Zhulu and the others all frowned tightly, worry beginning to surface in their eyes. Indeed, this decisive battle was even more grueling than imagined; they had no idea whether Li Luo could hold on.

On the other viewing platforms, the students of the various academies of the Saint Xuanxing Academy also sensed Lu Cang's change, and immediately their gazes grew tense.

The earlier sounds of elation that had arisen from Li Luo's slight advantage all vanished without a trace.

Only now did they understand that the previous advantage had been nothing more than both sides testing each other.

Under the convergence of countless gazes from among the mountains, Lu Cang slowly twisted his neck, a crisp sound issuing from between his bones; his crimson-and-black vertical pupils stared at Li Luo, and although his face bore a smile, it only gave off a chilling, bone-piercing cold.

"Li Luo, are you satisfied with this trump card of mine?" he asked with a smile.

Li Luo gave a slight nod and said: "Far beyond my expectations. I truly didn't think the two of you brothers could play it like this."

Lu Cang said: "The world is vast and full of wonders. You can have dual phases, and naturally others can have other marvels."

"That's a fair point," Li Luo agreed with a smile.

Lu Cang then slowly raised the Green Python Staff in his hand, pointed it at Li Luo, and said with a smile: "Then next, it's my turn to say something. Li Luo, if you have no other trump cards, then I think you can leave the stage in this deciding round."

Hearing this, Li Luo was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Because the instant Lu Cang's voice fell, he launched an extremely fierce attack; he stamped his foot, and the lake water beneath him exploded apart, a column of water surging skyward before turning into a torrential downpour.

Amid the pouring rain, crimson-black phase force rapidly expanded in Li Luo's pupils; the air was torn apart, as if a crimson-black two-headed giant python were lunging forth, its killing aura rolling, as though it would swallow the heavens and devour the earth.

The dual-phase power within Li Luo's body erupted without hesitation, and his twin blades slashed down with chilling force.

Clang!

The two collided head-on.

Violent phase force stirred up towering waves, and Li Luo's hands gripping the twin blades jolted sharply; that abnormally violent phase force, carrying tremendous force, crashed into him, instantly tearing his Hukou open, and his figure was sent flying backward, his feet skidding across the lake surface for fully several dozen meters before he barely steadied himself.

With this clash, the situation instantly reversed.

From among the mountains, a wave of exclamations rose.

Lu Cang stepped out across the water, Green Python Staff in hand, smiling as he looked at the shaken-back Li Luo, then tilted his head and asked:

"Li Luo, this should be your first time tasting what it feels like to be suppressed by someone at the same level, right?"

"How does it feel? Good?"